Tiger's Child

Completed the next series by Torey Hayden - Tiger's Child and a sequel to One Child which I have blogged not too long ago.

Being an educational psychologist and a special Ed teacher, she chronicled a very detailed picture of her experience with her clients.

In Tiger's Child, Sheila who was in her teens did not grow up to what Torey imagined her to be. In the whole book, it seemed that Torey was trying to "find" that Sheila that was lost in her growing years. As I put down the book, my mind was focused on one sentence that a co-worker told Torey - You do what all of us do in this business: pray that in the end, you've helped more than you've hurt.

Last week, I had a small debate with my colleague. A debate on whether Torey has crossed the professional line with her 6-year old client. The sequel showed very clearly how her intervention has seemed to cause hurt to her growing years.

I choose to believe that in this line of work, we make decisions based on what we think is the best then. Location, government, culture, ethinicity, rules, laws and whatnots play such an important role to understand the context of a case. More so than ever, a team decision is very important. Especially for major and sensitive cases, it's so very important to gather a team together to make one decision. Not only does it lessen the guilt on the caseworker if anything goes wrong, it helps because in a team, it helps the caseworker to be objective with no personal emotions involved.

I made a weekend trip to Malaysia for the purpose to relax & to evaluate my 2006. Coincidentally, I was reading Tiger's Child in the trip. Her books brought out a huge stirring within me. That sentence rang deep. To pray that in the end, I really have helped more than I have hurt. This, indeed, I pray hard.